P4ADNow Launches Push Including Ads In Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming, and Florida Calling Out Senators Lankford, Lee, Lummis, and Rubio For Standing With Big Pharma To Actually Raise Drug Prices
“I’m Furious That Senator Lee Spews Big Pharma Lies While He Tries To Make Sure Drug Companies Can Continue To Price Gouge Me For My Prescriptions.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patients are pushing back hard on Republican Senators Lankford (OK), Lee (UT), Lummis (WY), and Rubio (FL)’s recent effort to force them to pay more for their prescriptions. Senator Lee introduced, and Senators Lankford, Lummis, and Rubio cosponsored, the so-called Protect Drug Innovation Act, which aims to reverse the life-changing drug price reforms recently passed into law in the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill would repeal reforms patients fought for years to achieve. It would block Medicare from negotiating lower prices, remove caps on annual price increases which are now limited to the rate of inflation, and raise out-of-pocket costs for millions of Medicare beneficiaries. In response, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now is mobilizing patients and launching digital ads in Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming, and Florida to send a clear message to these senators: Don’t raise our drug prices.
“Senators Lankford, Lee, Lummis, and Rubio are putting Big Pharma ahead of patients, seeking to reverse provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act that are supported by almost 80 percent of Americans, including seven out of 10 Republicans,” said David Mitchell, cancer patient and founder and president of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Patients worked too hard to pass these reforms to lower drug prices; we will not stand still while pro-pharma senators try to undo it – we will fight back.”
The senators gave the bill the intentionally misleading name of the “Protect Drug Innovation Act,” falling back on Big Pharma’s discredited chestnut that anything to lower prices will stymie innovation. In the wake of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, investment in biotech stocks rose and a major drug company CEO said his company will do fine under its provisions.
“I’m furious that Senator Lee spews Big Pharma lies while he tries to make sure drug companies can continue to price gouge me for my prescriptions,” said Meg Jackson-Drage, from Magna, Utah who lives with fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain, both of which require costly medication. “I don’t understand how he can put drug company profits ahead of the needs of his constituents by pushing for the repeal of reforms that lower drug prices.”
“Florida seniors like me need Senator Rubio to stop standing in the way of lowering drug prices!” said Sheldon Armus of Boynton Beach, Florida, who lives with several cardiac conditions. “Finally, Congress passed a law to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, and Senator Rubio wants to reverse it?! Makes no sense.”
“I wish I were surprised by Senator Lankford’s attempt to reverse the recent drug price reforms – but this is just another example of politicians standing with Big Pharma instead of with patients,” added Clayton McCook, from Edmond, Oklahoma whose daughter, Lily, lives with type 1 diabetes. “The Inflation Reduction Act is a huge step in the right direction to lower drug prices. Our senators should be working to expand these reforms to all Americans, not reverse them. This legislation is unforgivable.”
P4ADNow’s campaign includes digital ads in the four states as well as grassroots advocacy, where patients tell their senators to stand with patients, not Big Pharma.
See ad examples below:
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Patients For Affordable Drugs Now is an independent, bipartisan patient organization focused on policies to lower drug prices. P4ADNow does not accept funding from any organizations that profit from the development or distribution of prescription drugs.
Welcome To The Week In Review.
2. New Reform In Action
3. Time To Tackle PBMs
One more thing: We wrapped up our digital campaign about the Inflation Reduction Act by highlighting how we plan to continue to work to reform our drug price system for all patients.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
My name is Brenda and I am a retired Tucson police department detective and middle school science teacher. I am also a small business owner who sells specialty soaps and seasonal wreaths — in large part to help pay for the very expensive medications. I have asthma and am also allergic to both bee stings and latex. I am supposed to carry an EpiPen with me at all times to avoid hospitalization for my severe allergies. I am 66 years old and recently switched to Medicare. I can’t believe how expensive my EpiPens are on Medicare. Because of the price, I have a difficult time refilling my prescription. There have been times where I could not afford to carry an EpiPen and ended up hospitalized with anaphylactic shock after being exposed to latex. It is unfair that seniors like myself should have to worry as much as I do to afford our prescriptions. I shouldn’t have to spend my retirement praying that my small business sales go well so that I can finally purchase my EpiPen. It isn’t right.
I have been a Type 1 diabetic for many years. I’ve had to ration my insulin in the past due to high prices. On several occasions I starved myself and took less insulin than I was supposed to so my vial would last longer. Unfortunately, even doing that, I would run out of insulin. I wasn’t involved in diabetes groups and knew no other diabetics. I don’t even think there was a name for rationing insulin at the time. I thought I was in a unique situation, so I didn’t reach out for help. All those years of rationing insulin have caused diabetes retinopathy, insulin resistance, and long-term complications that never would have occurred if I had access to affordable insulin. My health is what paid the price.
I’m 60 years old, work as a contractor for a life science company, and live with emphysema. Over the past few years, the cost for my inhaler has ranged by hundreds of dollars depending on my insurance plan. Lower drug prices for long-acting inhalers would bring peace of mind to me and countless other patients across the country. Having predictable costs over time makes budgeting easier, savings more robust, and we all know less stress makes for a happier public.
My name is Janet Schwartz, and I’m a retired nurse from Newark, DE. I’m 74 years old and was finally diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 59 years old after experiencing symptoms, like nerve and joint pain, for a very long time. I also have type 2 diabetes. The price of my medications has tarnished what are supposed to be my golden years. I have adult children and I don’t want them to have to pay for my drugs and worry about me. I didn’t have children because I wanted to be taken care of in my old age. I just want them to be happy. I just want to afford my prescription drugs.
My name is Barbara Bultman. I have 8 kids, 19 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren. When I’m not with my family, I love to spend time with my longtime group of girlfriends. I have issues with my lungs, so my doctor wrote me a prescription for multiple inhalers. I never expected to have to worry about the cost of medicine, but it’s now something that is constantly on my mind. I ration my inhaler and it affects my health and my lungs. I get scared and it causes stress, which only worsens my health. Life is hard when you’re sick and aging. I hope every day that I will receive help and be able to afford my medication.
My name is Tammy L. de la Cruz. I live with a rare autoimmune disorder, and to treat my condition, every week I receive Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment. I would become paralyzed without this treatment, which terrifies me. I have eight grandkids and love helping them out. I volunteer with my local food pantry and with a social service agency that serves those that have intellectual and developmental disabilities. I love coloring, reading, and up until a few months ago I attended college full time –– and thanks to my IVIG treatments, I was able to walk across the stage to get my BS in Psychology. Not being able to afford my treatment would have made these enjoyable hobbies more difficult, if not impossible, for me. I found a grant at the 11th hour, saving myself from paralysis. I know the future of this grant funding is not guaranteed. People with illness shouldn’t have to work so hard to fund extreme drug costs; it’s cruel. Patients like me shouldn’t have to rely on grants to cover the cost of our treatments. We shouldn’t have to deal with the uncertainty of constantly changing costs and the concerns of what will happen if we lose access to our grant and therefore our prescriptions. No one should have to experience the feeling of hopelessness I felt when I thought I wouldn’t be able to afford the treatment I needed. It doesn’t have to be like this. We need changes to our system that make prescription drugs more affordable.
